Monday, March 1, 2021

A new month starts but we’re still dealing with February’s mess. Specifically, Winter Storm Uri which put the entire country in the deep freeze for a week. As is wont to happen during these times, people all over the country had to deal with the loss of power, frozen pipes, and in some cases burst water mains. Texas got the bulk of the coverage, given their unique position as the only state not on a national grid and how poorly that worked out for them. Plus, Ted Cruz being a dick and Lone Star politicians regularly being shitty about California’s power woes.

But as I said, it happened all over the country and people in many places were in the dark for a couple of days. However, it’s flown under the radar how bad some places got hit. Baton Rouge, for example, had some troubles. And speaking of Southern state capitals, the bulk of Jackson, Mississippi, has been without potable water for over two weeks. Yet it’s getting very little attention in the national press. In fact, a quick Googling fails to come with nothing from smaller media outlets condemning the national press’s lack of concern.

This comes as no shock to anyone who’s paid much attention to how the rest of the country views the Magnolia State. We’re viewed as something of the nation’s red-headed stepchild, and considering the state’s history, it isn’t always without reason. The worst of Jim Crow happened in Mississipi and many of the most horrific events – Medgar Evers, the Philadelphia Murders, etc. – that kicked off happened in the state. We didn’t get around to actually making chattel slavery illegal in the state until the ’90s and it wasn’t until the last election that we got rid of the Confederate Flag.

Not quite as well known but a far more insidious institution was overturned in the last election. That is how the state’s governor gets in office. In addition to gaining the most number of votes, he (and it’s always been a he and a white he, at that) also had to win a majority of the counties in the state. And, yes, this was part of the 1890 state constitution to limit the voting power of Mississippi’s Black population. We have plenty of gerrymandering, too, concentrating the national vote to the Delta, splitting the African-American vote wherever it might cause trouble, and pretty much cementing a conservative majority in the state, be that Republican or, as it was up until the ’80s, Democratic.

Anytime the South shows its ass, people on the left – Liberals and Leftists alike – will comment that maybe the U.S. would be better off if some or all of it would just go ahead and secede like we tried to back in the 1860s. One tries to understand the frustration, but it isn’t quite fair. The rest of the country has its fair share of redneck assholes, both citizens and politicians. Steve King, undoubtedly the most racist member of Congress until his defeat by Randy Feenstra is from Iowa. Some of you kids don’t remember California’s Bob Dornan, who was nuttier than a yard full of squirrel shit.

That all being said, frankly, none of it matters. The people of Jackson – 161,000 strong – are starting their third week without water to drink or even flush their toilets. The National Guard is doing what they can, but the pipe system is over 100 years old. According to Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, the infrastructure needs from one to two billion dollars worth of work to get up to snuff. Where is that money going to come from?

Good question, and it’s one the state legislature isn’t worrying too much about, apparently. They spent most of last week trying to monkey with the tax system. According to the plan put forth by House Speaker Philip Gunn, taxes on income under $50,000 for individuals (around $97,000 for couples) would be eliminated and the loss would be made up by raising the sales tax on everything but groceries. Gunn and his cronies sprung this on the House late Thursday evening and caught pretty much everyone else flat-footed, even the public.

It passed and will head to the Senate where it’ll face some opposition. Furthermore, Gov. Tate Reeves has expressed discomfort with the bill and the state’s chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business says it’d do more harm than good. Lt. Gov. and President of the Senate Delbert Hosemann is being cagey about it, but the bill is very similar to the one Sam Brownback brought to Kansas in 2012 that screwed the Jayhawk State over something fierce.

It never ever works. Why Gunn and his crew dropped this bomb with little or no warning is unknown, nor is it know who he’s trying to please with this movement. The state GOP is a mess, as no one can stand each other from Hosemann and Reeves to the State Legislature. We’re still dealing with overloaded medical facilities because of COVID-19, a mess in public education exacerbated by that virus, and now a huge goddamn water bill for the state capital that needs to be addressed because what happened with Winter Storm Uri will happen again. Probably happen next winter, too, because of climate change, smart ass.

This state, I swear to God. You’d think that since the rest of the nation doesn’t give a shit about us, we’d be more inclined to help ourselves. But nope, that seems to be the last thing on the Legislature’s mind.